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5 reasons why Real Madrid should win El Clasico

Mourinho – reason to be confident?

Travel in your mind’s eye over to sunny Spain this lunchtime. Small plates of sausages or spicy prawns have barely been touched, glasses of sherry remain undrunk. Beautiful women in sexy red dresses can’t even bring themselves to ride horses. Why? Because of El Clasico, dipstick! These people are TERRIFIED.

With that in mind, after the jump you’ll find five reasons why the people of Madrid should forget being nervous, and order another tiny portion of potatoes in tomato sauce. This from our pals at Betfair Football:

Barcelona have won all four of the Clasicos that have taken place under Pep Guardiola’s leadership and head into tonight’s clash at the Camp Nou having scored 11 goals without reply in their last two games. Despite all that, we like the look of Real Madrid at 3.7. Here’s why…

They’ve been more impressive
Barcelona may have won 8-0 away at Almeria last week but it’s Real Madrid who have been the more impressive of the two so far this season. They boast a one-point lead in La Liga, they have a superior goal difference and most importantly they’ve played 19 times without losing, winning 15.

Mourinho has beaten Barcelona before
Jose Mourinho has faced Barcelona in the knockout stages of the Champions League on three occasions, progressing twice, including last year when Barca were holders and favourites. Admittedly, he’s never been victorious at the Nou Camp, though arguably that’s because he hasn’t needed to.

Barcelona have slipped up twice at home
Whereas the champions have a perfect record on their league travels this term, they have at times looked vulnerable at home, losing to promoted Hercules, being held by Mallorca, winning by more than one goal only twice and managing just two clean sheets. It doesn’t bode well for their biggest test yet.

Five in a row is unprecedented
Barcelona have never previously won five successive Clasicos and neither side has dominated the fixture for such a sustained spell since Real Madrid’s six on the spin between 1962 and 1965 when they were in complete control of Spanish football, claiming five straight titles.

Clasicos are rarely drawn
Some experts believe that as Real Madrid are top of the table, they would settle for a point this evening, confident that they can perform as well as Barcelona against the rest of the league then win the home match in April. Only two of the last 14 – and none of the last six – Clasicos have actually finished level however and likewise only one of Mourinho’s four meetings with Barca last term.

Has our case failed to convince you? Then why not back Barcelona at 2.2…